GENEVA, FEBRUARY 6, 2018. PIR PRESS.— “The last law on sanctions against Russia, which is probably one of the most irresponsible acts adopted by US Congress, codified Russia as adversary. The new Russia never felt that our countries were adversaries, and the Russian political and military circles have to take this seriously including in terms of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. If we are adversaries, that is very disappointing. We will survive US sanctions as well as being labeled as adversaries, but the United States deprived itself of a very able partner that was potentially available for working together on issues that can unite us,”—Amb. Sergey Kislyak,First Deputy Chairperson, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Council of the Federation.

First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Council of the Federation Amb. Sergey Kislyak gave a keynote speech on US-Russian relations in Geneva. The speech was delivered at a lunch that was part of a sequence of meetings of US-Russian working groups established by PIR Center, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and Centre russe d’etudes politiques, Geneve under two projects – “US-Russian Dialogue on the NPT Review Process: Lessons Learned (1970-2017) and Steps Ahead (2018-2020)” and “Pursuing Enhanced Strategic Stability in US-Russian Relations: An Agenda for 2018-2020.”

While introducing the guest, Co-chair of the working groups and Special Advisor to PIR Center Dr. Vladimir Orlov reminded that prior to joining the upper house of the Russian Parliament, Amb. Kislyak served as Soviet and Russian diplomat and dealt with international security, arms control, and nonproliferation-related issues, as well as US-Russian relations for four decades including in the capacity of Russian Ambassador to the United States in 2008 – 2017.

Amb. Kislyak addressed the participants of the two working groups to share his assessment of the current state of US-Russian dialogue on nonproliferation and strategic stability. He shared his concern that the two countries have nothing in place to compare with the in-depth discussions they used to enjoy in the past. Regrettably, representatives of the American establishment are not ready to engage in such discussions in part due to the fear of losing their jobs.

As a lawmaker, Amb. Kislyak highlighted the negative impact of US legislation regarding the policy of the United States on Russia and said: “The last law on sanctions against Russia, which is probably one of the most irresponsible acts adopted by US Congress, codified Russia as adversary. The new Russia never felt that our countries were adversaries, and the Russian political and military circles have to take this seriously including in terms of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. If we are adversaries, that is very disappointing. We will survive US sanctions as well as being labeled as adversaries, but the United States deprived itself of a very able partner that was potentially available for working together on issues that can unite us.”

The meetings of the US-Russian working groups on the NPT review process and strategic stability will be covered by PIR PRESS in the near future.